Thread by @RobJCurley

*State of play in Irish planning corruption & cronyism*

Since 2015 power over planning decisions has been stripped from local authorities & handed to An Bord Pleanála which has been stuffed w political appointees such as personal friend of @simoncoveney Paul Hyde

#HydeGate

1/7

Recently @wereontheditch has broken a number of stories about Hyde’s cronyism such as failure to declare conflicts of interest when deciding on decisions involving his brother’s company, lands adjacent his father’s & even on his brother’s house!

#CowboyPleanála

2/7

https://twitter.com/gavinjdaly/status/1522842255903633409

In many cases Hyde went against the recommendations of ABP’s own planning inspectors.

Just last November Hyde also granted permission for US developer Hines’ 1,614 build-to-rent neighbourhood in Drumcondra against the recommendation of Dublin City Council.

3/7

#GombeenGate

Stripping power from local authorities by @simoncoveney & @MurphyEoghan to political appointees in ABP has turned the independent arbitrator of planning into an opaque body mired in scandal.

We are witnessing the inevitable outcome of the removal of oversight from planning.

4/7

This scandal is just the tip of the icerberg as the gov continues w the corporatisation of planning at the expense of democracy & accountability.

Expect more disinformation & “nimby bogeyman” bluster from FG’s standard bearer on planning @peterburkefg to justify this.

5/7

The way to solve planning & ensure housing delivery is with certainty in development which can only be delivered through a coherent and transparent planning system that offers certainty at local level.

What we have instead is a speculators’ charter written by lobbyists.

6/7

Hyde is central to this. He was appointed by Coveney who also introduced Strategic Housing Developments which were specifically designed to bypass local authorities and put ultimate authority in the hands of 2-3 people.

This system is broken.
His position is untenable.

7/7

#HousingCrisis
#PlanningCrisis
#HydeGate
#GombeenGate

Correction for the record. Simon Coveney appointed his former schoolmate Paul Hyde to the Marine Institute board in 2012. Phil Hogan later appointed Hyde to An Bord Pleanála in 2014. Hyde is now head of the SHD division. Coveney created SHDs in 2016.

ontheditch.com/multiple-high-…